Martin, of York Township, won a marketing competition run by Jet.com, a new company that plans to take on Amazon.com in the online shopping sector. Martin spent $18,000 of his own money to win the competition, and now he owns 100,000 stock options for a company too new to have a ticker symbol.

"I kind of have a history of having wild ideas and trying them," Martin said in a phone interview. "I tend to try them until I've succeeded or there's not really much of a good chance of success."

Perhaps Martin's most well-known wild idea was his run for Congress in the 2012 Republican primary. Martin, along with five other competitors, was handily bested by Scott Perry, R-Carroll Township.

Martin, now 28, said he ran because he saw an opportunity to make a difference when incumbent congressman Todd Platts stepped down. Perhaps that same eye for opportunity is what led Martin to compete in Jet's insider program. This time, it seems to have paid off.

It started in January. Martin, who works in IT for a funeral insurance brokerage, saw Jet on the cover of Bloomberg Businessweek. The New Jersey-based startup had raised $220 million, and Jet CEO Mark Lore, whose previous company was bought out by Amazon, claimed he would offer online prices 10 to 15 percent lower than Amazon by turning zero profit on sales, making money instead by charging users a $49.99 annual membership fee.

Martin visited Jet's website, where, on a whim, he signed up for the "Jet Insider" program, which promised early access to Jet's marketplace when it launches this spring.

The program also offered company stock options for "top insiders," those who got the most other people to sign up for the program. When Martin got his wife to sign up and saw his insider ranking skyrocket, he realized that there might only be a handful of people making a serious effort to win the top prize of 100,000 stock options.

That's when Martin got serious. First he paid for a Facebook ad, which he said didn't yield many referrals. Then he got the idea to pay people for referrals on Swagbucks.com and Gifthulk.com, websites that allow people to earn gift cards for completing surveys and other online tasks.

"I knew I needed a lot of referrals really fast, and I heard about Swagbucks a couple years ago from my sister in law, who is a user," Martin said.

He spent $3,000 on the websites, and that got him among the top 10 Jet insiders. At that point, he'd already won 10,000 stock options. He had a choice: rest on his earnings, or go for the grand prize. He dumped another $15,000 into his efforts, referring nearly 8,000 people to the program, according to Jet spokeswoman Sumaiya Balbale, and winning the grand prize.

How much are those stock options worth? Balbale declined to comment on the value of the initial stock price, but Fusion.net Senior Editor Kevin Roose, citing "one person familiar with Jet's finances," claimed that the stock options could be worth between $10 million and $20 million, assuming Jet doesn't crash on departure.

Martin said he hopes to at least get his $18,000 back, and though he's excited by the prospect of life-changing wealth, Martin, an avid church-goer, said he was well aware of Proverbs 30:9, which cautions against having so much money that one loses sight of God.

"I do see it as a huge responsibility," he said.

A self described "ideas person," Martin said he doesn't know where he'll end up next. Balbale said Martin and other top insiders will "be a big part" of the company as it launches.

Who knows? The Ron Paul devotee could even wind up back in the political ring.